Editing ARA General Belgrano (section)

==Controversy over the sinking==
The legality of the sinking of ''General Belgrano'' has been disputed due to disagreement on the exact nature of the Maritime Exclusion Zone (MEZ) and whether ''General Belgrano'' had been returning to port at the time of the sinking. Through a message passed via the [[List of diplomatic missions of Switzerland|Swiss Embassy]] in Buenos Aires to the Argentine government nine days before the sinking, the UK made clear that it no longer considered the 200 [[Nautical mile|mile]] exclusion zone as the limit of its military action. On 1 May 1982, Admiral Juan Lombardo ordered all Argentine naval units to seek out the British task force around the Falklands and launch a "massive attack" the following day.<ref name="Guardian"/>

In 2003, the ship's captain Hector Bonzo confirmed that ''General Belgrano'' had actually been manoeuvering, not "sailing away" from the exclusion zone.<ref name="Guardian">{{Cite web|date=2003-05-25|title=Belgrano crew 'trigger happy'|url=http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2003/may/25/uk.world|access-date=2020-09-01|website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref> Captain Bonzo stated that any suggestion that HMS ''Conqueror''{{'s}} actions were a "betrayal" was utterly wrong; rather, the submarine carried out its duties according to the accepted rules of war.<ref name=Middlebrook_2009_p116 /> In an interview two years before his death in 2009, he further stated that: "It was absolutely not a war crime. It was an act of war, lamentably legal."<ref name="Britain was right to sink the Belgrano">{{Cite news |last=Allison |first=Brian |date=27 January 2017 |title=Britain was right to sink the Belgrano |work=UK Defence Journal |url=https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/britain-was-right-to-sink-the-belgrano/ |access-date=6 May 2021}}</ref>

The sinking became a ''cause célèbre'' for British anti-war campaigners such as Labour MP [[Tam Dalyell]].<ref name="TD_Obit">{{Cite news |last=Wilson |first=Brian |date=26 January 2017 |title=Tam Dalyell obituary |work=Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jan/26/tam-dalyell-obituary |access-date=1 September 2020}}</ref> Early reports suggested that more than 1,000 Argentine sailors might have been killed in the sinking; it was around a third of that number.

The sinking occurred 14 hours after President of Peru [[Fernando Belaúnde Terry|Fernando Belaúnde]] proposed a comprehensive peace plan and called for regional unity, although Margaret Thatcher and diplomats in London did not see this document until after the sinking of ''General Belgrano''.<ref>{{Wikiquote-inline|Diana Gould|Diana Gould and Thatcher at an interview where Thatcher admits the Peruvian Peace Proposals did not reach London until after the attack on the Belgrano}}</ref> Diplomatic efforts to that point had failed completely.  After the sinking, Argentina rejected the plan but the UK indicated its acceptance on 5 May. The news was subsequently dominated by military action and the British continued to offer ceasefire terms until 1 June that were rejected by the Junta.<ref>[http://falklands.info/history/82timeline.html 1982 Falklands War Timeline] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090501045212/http://falklands.info/history/82timeline.html |date=1 May 2009 }}, A Chronology of Events in the Falklands War</ref>

===Argentine response===

On 3 May 1982, Argentina's Chancellery released a statement in the name of the Argentinian government that read:

{{Blockquote|The Government of Argentina, broadening what was reported by the Joint Staff in its statement No. 15, states:

# That at 17 hours on 2 May, the cruiser ARA General Belgrano was attacked and sunk by a British submarine in a point at 55° 24' south latitude and 61° 32' west longitude. There are 1,042 men aboard the ship. Rescue operations for survivors are being carried out.
# That this point is located 36 miles outside the maritime exclusion zone set by the UK government in the statement by its Ministry of Defence on 28 April 1982, confirming the provisions on 12 April 1982. That area is marked by a "circle with a radius of 200 nautical miles from the 51° 40' South latitude and 59° 30' west longitude", as stated in the declaration.
# That such an attack is a treacherous act of armed aggression perpetrated by the British government in violation of the UN Charter and the ceasefire ordered by [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 502]].
# That, in the face of this new attack, Argentina reiterates to the national and global public its adherence to the ceasefire mandated by the Security Council on the mentioned resolution. It has only limited itself to responding to Britain's attacks, without using force beyond what is necessary to ensure the defense of its territories.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.elhistoriador.com.ar/documentos/dictadura/hundimiento_del_general_belgrano_comunicados_oficiales.php |title=Hundimiento del General Belgrano – Comunicados oficiales |work=La Nación |location=Argentina |language=es |date=4 May 1982 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130517050451/http://www.elhistoriador.com.ar/documentos/dictadura/hundimiento_del_general_belgrano_comunicados_oficiales.php |archive-date=17 May 2013 }}</ref>
}}

===Legal situation===

Neither the United Kingdom nor Argentina declared war during the conflict. Combat was confined to the Falkland Islands, South Georgia, and the surrounding area. ''General Belgrano'' was sunk outside the {{convert|200|nmi|km|adj=on}} total exclusion zone around the Falklands, delimited by the UK. Through a message passed via the Swiss Embassy in Buenos Aires to the Argentine government on 23 April, the UK had made clear that it no longer considered the 200-mile (370&nbsp;km) exclusion zone as the limit of its military action. The message read:

{{Blockquote|In announcing the establishment of a Maritime Exclusion Zone around the Falkland Islands, Her Majesty's Government made it clear that this measure was without prejudice to the right of the United Kingdom to take whatever additional measures may be needed in the exercise of its right of self-defence under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter. In this connection Her Majesty's Government now wishes to make clear that any approach on the part of Argentine warships, including submarines, naval auxiliaries or military aircraft, which could amount to a threat to interfere with the mission of British Forces in the South Atlantic will encounter the appropriate response. All Argentine aircraft, including civil aircraft engaged in surveillance of these British forces, will be regarded as hostile and are liable to be dealt with accordingly.<ref name=Middlebrook_2009_pp74-75 />}}
Interviews conducted by [[Martin Middlebrook]] for his book ''Argentine Fight for the Falklands'' indicated that Argentine naval officers understood that the intent of the message was to indicate that any ships operating near the exclusion zone could be attacked.<ref>Middlebrook (2009), pp. 115–116</ref> Argentine Rear Admiral Allara, who was in charge of the task force of which ''General Belgrano'' was part, said: "After that message of 23 April, the entire South Atlantic was an operational theatre for both sides. We, as professionals, said it was just too bad that we lost the ''Belgrano''".<ref name="Middlebrook_2009_p116">Middlebrook (2009), p. 116</ref> Captain Bonzo also told Middlebrook that he was not angry about the attack on his ship and that {{blockquote|The limit [exclusion zone] did not exclude danger or risks; it was all the same in or out. I would like to be quite precise that, as far as I was concerned, the 200-mile limit was valid until 1 May, that is while diplomatic negotiations were taking place and/or until a real act of war took place, and that had happened on 1 May.<ref name=Middlebrook_2009_p116 />}}

Admiral [[Sandy Woodward]], who commanded the British task force during the war, wrote in his 1997 book ''One Hundred Days'' that [[HMS Conqueror (S48)|HMS ''Conqueror'']] received a signal changing the rules of engagement and that "The change said quite clearly he may now attack the Belgrano, outside the TEZ".{{sfn|Woodward |2003|p=219 |ps=: At 1330Z she (HMS Conqueror) accessed the satellite and received the signal from Northwood changing her Rules of Engagement. ...The change said quite clearly he may now attack the Belgrano, outside the TEZ}}

===Later political controversy===
Some details of the action were leaked to a British Member of Parliament, [[Tam Dalyell]], in 1985 by the senior civil servant [[Clive Ponting]], resulting in the unsuccessful prosecution of the latter under the [[Official Secrets Act 1911]]. According to the documents  '' General Belgrano'' was sailing away from the exclusion zone when she was attacked and sunk.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/216868.stm |work=BBC News | title=Troubled history of Official Secrets Act | date=18 November 1998}}</ref>

In May 1983, Thatcher appeared on ''[[Nationwide (TV series)|Nationwide]]'', a live television programme on [[BBC One|BBC1]], where a teacher, [[Diana Gould (teacher)|Diana Gould]],<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-16119332 |work=BBC News | title=Margaret Thatcher's Belgrano critic Diana Gould dies, aged 85 | date=9 December 2011}}</ref><ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/8944544/Diana-Gould.html Obituary: Diana Gould], ''Daily Telegraph'', 8 December 2011</ref> questioned her about the sinking, saying that the ship was already west of the Falklands and heading towards the Argentine mainland to the west. Gould also said that the Peruvian peace proposal must have reached London in the 14 hours between its publication and the sinking of ''General Belgrano'', and the escalation of the war could have thus been prevented. In the emotional exchange that followed, Thatcher answered that the vessel was a threat to British ships and lives and denied that the peace proposal had reached her.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/vote_2005/basics/4393313.stm |work=BBC News | title=1983: Thatcher triumphs again | date=5 April 2005 | access-date=25 April 2010}}</ref> She added that "One day, all of the facts, in about 30 years time, will be published", apparently a reference to a classified report prepared by intelligence officer Major David Thorp for Thatcher after the incident.<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/8965405/Belgrano-was-heading-to-the-Falklands-secret-papers-reveal.html|title=Belgrano was heading to the Falklands, secret papers reveal|date=26 December 2011 |access-date=8 January 2017}}</ref>

After the programme, Thatcher's husband Denis lashed out at its producer in the entertainment suite, saying that his wife had been "stitched up by bloody BBC [[poof]]s and [[Trotskyism|Trots]]".<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1518975.stm |publisher=BBC News  | title=TV's top 10 tantrums | date=31 August 2001 | access-date=25 April 2010}}</ref> Thatcher herself commented during the interview:  "I think it could only be in Britain that a prime minister was accused of sinking an enemy ship that was a danger to our navy, when my main motive was to protect the boys in our navy."<ref>{{YouTube|id=tbY9pTH8IW4|title=The Belgrano}}</ref>

According to the British historian Sir [[Lawrence Freedman]], neither Thatcher nor the Cabinet was aware of ''General Belgrano''{{'s}} change of course before the cruiser was attacked.<ref name="The Times"/> In his book ''One Hundred Days'', Admiral Woodward claims that ''General Belgrano'' was part of the southern part of a [[pincer movement]] aimed at the task force, and had to be sunk quickly. He wrote:

{{Blockquote|text=The speed and direction of an enemy ship can be irrelevant, because both can change quickly. What counts is his position, his capability and what I believe to be his intention.{{sfnp|Woodward|2003|p=}} }}

==="Gotcha" headline===
[[File:The Sun (Gotcha).png|thumb|Front cover of ''The Sun'', 4 May 1982]]

On 4 May, the British tabloid newspaper ''[[The Sun (United Kingdom)|The Sun]]'' ran the controversial headline "Gotcha" in reference to the sinking of ''General Belgrano''. [[Kelvin MacKenzie]], the newspaper's editor, was reported to have used an impromptu exclamation by ''The Sun''{{'s}} features editor, [[Wendy Henry]], as the inspiration for the headline. The accompanying text reported that ''General Belgrano'' had only been hit and damaged and not sunk, while a "gunboat" (actually the armed tug [[ARA Alférez Sobral|ARA ''Alférez Sobral'']]) had sunk, when in fact the reverse was the case.  After early editions went to press, further reports suggested a major loss of life, and Mackenzie toned down the headline to read "Did 1,200 Argies drown?" in later editions.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/falklands/story/0,11707,657850,00.html |title=The Sun newspaper on the Falklands |work=The Guardian| location=London |date= 25 February 2002|access-date=7 February 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Douglas |first=Torin |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3654446.stm |title=UK &#124; Forty years of The Sun |work=BBC News|date=14 September 2004 |access-date=7 February 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.british-library.uk/learning/histcitizen/fpage/conflict/conflict.html |title=War |publisher=British-library.uk |date=4 May 1982 |access-date=7 February 2010}}</ref>

Few readers in the UK saw the headline at first hand as it was only used on copies of the first northern editions, while southern editions and later editions in the North carried the toned-down headline, but the "Gotcha" headline was widely publicised.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/features/frontpage/gotcha.html |title=Gotcha |publisher=Bl.uk |access-date=2 December 2011}}</ref>